The Early Roman Expansion into Italy
Elite Negotiation and Family Agendas

Argues that Roman expansion in Italy was accomplished more by means of negotiation among local elites than through military conquest.

Nicola Terrenato (Author)

9781108436854, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 6 August 2020

347 pages, 23 b/w illus. 21 maps
24.4 x 17 x 1.8 cm, 0.556 kg

'A very important read for those interested in early Roman history, in historiography, or in the relationship of history and myth.' A. A. Nofi, New York Military Affairs Symposium Review

This book presents a radical new interpretation of Roman expansion in Italy during the fourth and third centuries BCE. Nicola Terrenato argues that the process was accomplished by means of a grand bargain that was negotiated between the landed elites of central and southern Italy, while military conquest played a much smaller role than is usually envisaged. Deploying archaeological, epigraphic, and historical evidence, he paints a picture of the family interactions that tied together both Roman and non-Roman aristocrats and that resulted in their pooling power and resources for the creation of a new political entity. The book is written in accessible language, without technical terms or quotations in Latin, and is heavily illustrated.

List of illustrations
Preface
Acknowledgments
1. Views of Roman imperialism through time
2. The long-term context of Roman expansion: central Italian society and politics in the early first Millennium BCE
3. The global context of Roman expansion: the central Mediterranean between the late fifth and the early third centuries BCE
4. A heterogeneous conquest I: a cross section of polity biographies and types of conflicts
5. A heterogeneous conquest II: family biographies and agendas
6. The consequences of the expansion
7. Conclusions
Works cited
Index.

Subject Areas: Ancient history: to c 500 CE [HBLA], History: theory & methods [HBA], History [HB], History of art: ancient & classical art,BCE to c 500 CE [ACG]